POWER August 2010 - 65

PLANT CONSTRUCTION
Lean Construction Principles
Eliminate Waste
Eliminate waste in coal, gas, or nuclear power plant construction through a
holistic application of lean principles.
By Jeff Lukowski, PE, CSCP, FMI Corp.
" L
ean thinking " is a set of principles
that work to eliminate waste and
create new opportunities through
continuous improvement. It is just that simple.
Lean thinking was proven in the Japanese
automotive industry and has slowly gained
traction in the construction industry, as evidenced
by the increasing volume of papers
presented at the recent International Group
for Lean Construction Annual Conference.
Lean construction is the practical application
of lean manufacturing principles, or lean
thinking, to the building environment. Engineers,
constructors, and consultants who are
shaping this concept envision a project as a
production system.
Although there are volumes written about
lean manufacturing from many viewpoints,
lean construction literature and consulting
offerings are both generally aimed in the direction
of the general contractor. This article
explores how lean construction can eliminate
waste in the erection of plumbing and mechanical
systems that are prevalent in coal,
gas, or nuclear power plant construction.
Lean Construction: Here and Now
There has been a notable increase in the
popularity of lean construction in the general
construction industry-especially in the past
year-as a result of at least two main drivers.
First, plant managers seeking to reduce
their total cost of ownership and mitigate
the effects of unforeseen risks consider lean
construction as a new execution platform.
Second, energy-oriented construction firms
looking for ways to be more competitive in
the wake of the 2008 U.S. economic crisis are
attracted to lean construction as a new model
for conducting business. The application of
lean thinking concepts has produced success
stories in several construction segments, most
notably in health care construction.
Unfortunately, marketplace confusion persists
around how lean construction can be used
to improve efficiency or even reduce costs of
a highly engineered and complex construction
project such as a power plant retrofit. Part of
this confusion is due to the relative newness
of the concept of lean construction, which has
August 2010 | POWER
been spurred on by an approach marketed as
the " Last Planner System " (LPS). Although
LPS and LPS-like systems incorporate basic
lean thinking principles, the dimensional focus
of these systems is on the project; that is,
LPS and LPS-like systems purposefully focus
on the activities occurring in the field and pay
only minor attention to the rest of the supply
chain activities like subcontractor shops and
supplier facilities.
Mechanical contractors engaged in the energy
industry can easily misinterpret the benefits
of LPS and LPS-like systems as the single
most important element in a lean transformation
for their company. That is, by implementing
an LPS or LPS-like system, a trade
contractor company may mistakenly believe
that it is a lean organization. However, LPS
and LPS-like systems are but a single portion
of a lean construction transformation.
Let's explore how lean construction relates
to a piping and mechanical contractor that is
building a complex copper piping system for a
gas-fired power plant, at three distinct levels:
the firm, the project, and the program level.
Three Levels of Lean Construction
We propose a hypothetical construction project
structure involving a mechanical contractor,
an electrical contractor, a structural contractor,
a general contractor (GC), a plant manager,
and an architect/engineer (AE) to illustrate the
three levels of lean construction (see table).
For simplification, the plant manager decided
that the project will use a GC approach
to project delivery as opposed to one with a
design-build approach. In the traditional execution
of this project, first the AE issues construction
drawings to the plant's engineering
and construction representative. Then the
plant submits a request for proposal against
the scope of the job to one or several qualified
GCs, and, in turn, the GC does the same
to several qualified subcontractors.
The three levels of lean thinking in the construction industry. Source: FMI Corp.
Characteristic
The firm
Scope of lean
implementation
Individual company: one or
more processes or products
from start to finish
Who (generally) drives it? The trade contractor
Duration of changes
Competitive
differentiation for the
trade contractor
How does it get
implemented?
Life of company
Low cost, high quality,
customer satisfaction
An internal lean
champion
The project
Project: all installation
processes for multiple
products (trades)
The general contractor
and/or owner
Life of the project
Lock-in with general
contractor
Collaboration among the
project team
The program
Holistic: all processes
from start to finish for
multiple products (trades)
The owner
Life of a long-term
alliance or contract
Lock-in with owner
Integration with
multiple firms
1. Meeting the customer's needs. From the perspective of the contractor, copper
piping is seen as a production system with inputs and outputs. These processes include all elements
of design/coordination, procurement, fabrication, and installation. Source: FMI Corp.
Copper piping production system
Inputs
■ Resources
■ Design/specs
■ Materials
Design
Procure
Fabricate
Install
Outputs
■ Tags/insulation
■ Functional system
■ Documentation
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POWER August 2010

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